New Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX for 2016 World Rallycross Championship
It’s not only the World Rally Championship that sees mega-power Polos take to gravel tracks around the word. In case it has escaped your notice, rallycross has been back in a globally big way over the past three years and Volkswagen’s small hatchback also competes this this FIA-regulated championship, too – and the Polo RXs have twice as much power as their Polo R WRC counterparts.
Twelve-round championship
Announced at the start of the year, the Volkswagen RX Sweden team will campaign the ‘official’ Polo RX cars in the twelve-round 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship (those ‘cross’ / ‘RX’ words and letters are important) with Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund as its young-gun principal drivers.
These two have form – Kristoffersson won the World RX of Portugal last year, while Maryland raced a Polo RX before switching to an Audi S3 RX. Oh, and his father, Jan Marklund ran Marklund Motorsport, a kind of satellite team of Volkswagen Motorsport which has contested the rallycross championship with Polo RXs for the past three years. The new team itself is a merger of Kristoffersson Motorsport and Marklund Motorsport.
Blue, cyan and white livery
The new 2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar was unveiled recently and its livery now bears comparison with that of the Polo R WRCs prepared in Hannover – dark blue is the dominant colour, while the white rear half and cyan streaks bring to mind the German-prepared Polo rally machine, too. Volkswagen RX Sweden also cites the Swedish flag and sponsor colours as inspiration.
Volkswagen RX Sweden by team manager Michael Schneider is aiming high with his new team and his new 600bhp Polo RX: ‘It is with great pleasure that we present our car for 2016. Our competitors have not been standing still in progress and they continue to develop their cars – but so do we.
‘The best of both concepts’
‘We have spent a lot of time to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s cars from Marklund Motorsport and Kristoffersson Motorsport, and we have tried to combine the best of both concepts in the new car. The whole team has worked hard and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved who has contributed to the construction of this car. We all have the same goal and we are willing to do our utmost to achieve it.’
Kristoffersson can’t wait to get started: ‘The new car looks absolutely stunning and I feel proud to see my name on it. I look forward to the start of the season, but for now the focus is on pre-season tests in order to get as much out of the cars as possible. I’ve driven six rallies during the winter, which has helped me find a focus, develop and find new ideas for the Rallycross Championship.’
‘Simple, sleek and aggressive’
Marklund meanwhile is pleased with both the team’s and the car’s progress: ‘The car is really good, the team has put a great job on every single detail and it has a look I really like. It is simple, sleek and aggressive at the same time. I’ve known Johan (Kristoffersson) from the rallycross championship and he is a fun and relaxed guy. Our different experiences of life and the racing will help the team moving forward.’
The Volkswagen RX Sweden team has worked hard over the winter at its base in Boliden to ensure that the Polo RX Supercar’s performance lives up to its new look, and to also be ideally prepared for the first round of the season in Portugal which runs from 16-17 April at Montalegre. The Polo RXs have always been strong performers on the World Rallycross Championship stage. Now, with official backing, that performance could be about to gain some extra muscle…
